2011 Year in Review

Hi Folks,

It's been a while, but I figure the holiday break is a perfect time to check in and let the internet know how my life is going.

Highlights of 2011 include:

• Catching the first powder in my life at Sunpeaks
• Going to the UK, not once, but twice to help my company kickstart production for the Ford/Azure Transit Connect Electric.
• While in the UK, visiting London and Edinburgh
• Hosting a TON of friends coming to visit Vancouver
• Roadtripping to Seattle and Portland with one of said friends
• Leading a small group at my church, stepping down, then kick-starting a new small group
• Hiking the West Coast Trail with an awesome group of friends
• Vacationing in California with my parents and learning how to surf
• Checking out Tofino, and renewing my newfound love for surfing
• Learning how to Wakeboard
• Discovering for myself Planetary Gearsets and applying them at my job. Best invention since sliced bread.
• Catching the Foo Fighters in Concert 
• Cooking a  Turducken

Common Answers to Common Questions about my life in 2011.

Career:

I'm a low-level minion working my way up at Azure Dynamics, a company that integrates hybrid and electric powertrains into automobiles, with a focus on the medium duty truck market. Practically speaking that means I design lots of bits and pieces made of steel and plastic so that other bits and pieces don't fall off the car while it jaunts to and fro. Lately though, I've been getting opportunities to work more on the architecture side of things...

Girlfriend?

No.

Potentials?

There was a swing or two at it in 2011, but didn't make any connections...

How do you like Vancouver? Any plans to go back to Ontario?

I love Vancouver. There's still a lot more wilderness I want to experience, namely hiking and snowboarding among the mountains. I wouldn't say I'm set on living here for the rest of my life, but things are pretty sweet.

Stay tuned for my 2012 Manifesto!

Surfin' in the USA!

Part 2 of my Cali adventure continues....

So Monday evening rolls around - the good thing about eating with my mom is that I can choose to eat whatever I want. I heard there's a TON of Korean people in Cali, so I look up a place nearby called Hashingo. It's in a strip mall plaza, and pretty quiet at first, so my expectations are pretty low, but then they come out with this thing called the Korrito.

From California!

Yes. yes that is a Mexican burrito swimming in tofu and filled with oh-so-delicious Korean BBQ meat. What wonderful things can happen in this world when people come together and understand one another.


The next day the outdoor adventure day for my mother and I - we started off by visiting a university arboretum, this one specializing in cultivating rare desert plants.

From California!

I couldn't tell you what it is, but I was captivated by how this cacti contained such bright and vibrant colours,  even without having flowers. My stereotype of prickly pitchfork cacti was definitely shattered that morning. For lunch my mom and I drove over to Laguna Beach based on a friends recommendation.  It's definitely a different beach community for a different crowd. Most of the beach patrons were either extremely young, or extremely old. The shops were generally more refined in nature, e.g. art galleries, formal restaurants, massage and nail parlours, a far cry from the extreme sports crowd at Huntington beach. After grabbing a bite, we escaped the concrete jungle and took a 5 mile hike in a conservation area to experience some of California's natural desert ecosystem.

Day 5 of California was the obligatory Hollywood tourist spectacle. Right around the Kodak theatre is this amazing concentration of tourist shops, high end fashion and restaurants, all catering towards the photo-happy gawkers. Walk a little further out on Hollywood Blvd., and you'll see a grungier side of the town: tattoo parlours, burlesque houses, pawn shops. You could tell how famous a celebrity was or is, by how close their star is to the centre of the spectacle. Interestingly enough, there was a couple great examples of art deco architecture at the other end of the boulevard, along with a couple of theatres, built in Hollywood's golden heyday, some restored magnificently, others, just giving off a hint of their former glory, but looking all the more sad because of their dilapidated condition.

I think the highlight of the whole trip was on Day 6 though - surfing. Another gloriously sunny day dawned, and I didn't really feel up for much of anything, almost vacationed out in fact. Good thing my mum was bugging me to get off my butt otherwise I would've missed out. I called at about 11am and managed to grab the last session of the day, one-on-one with an instructor. We started out with some basics, how to lie on the board properly - this part is pretty crucial since it sets up how you pivot, and where the centre of balance of the board will be. After I ran through a couple of those drills, he took me out on the water and set me up for some incoming waves, so I could try it out while he positioned me. You've really got to paddle hard to get your speed up, but there's this incredible surge that comes with lying on the board just as the wave hits you. It's like getting shot out of a cannon, and then you've got to get a knee up and pivot around to stand and control the board. I basically got the hang of it on the 2nd try, and after that it was off to the races. I started positioning myself, jump starting with the waves, sitting on the board, picking my own waves, pivoting and going....it was a blast :D.


Can't wait to go back. Until next time Cali!